Fulbright Scholars

Drexel MD/PhD student Shawn Joshi received a Fulbright Scholarship to study the use of portable brain imaging to assess the extent of impact of developmental coordination disorder on motor cognition. He attended Oxford University and was mentored by Professor Helen Dawes at the Oxford Institute fo Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Research.
Learn more about Shawn's experience

Seyi Aderotoye received a scholarship through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, to study sickle cell disorder and genotype errors in Nigeria. The findings from this study successfully launched a discussion among the medical community in Lagos.
Learn more about Seyi's experience

Eight students and alumni from Drexel were offered grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in 2017.
Read more

Additional Global Health Training

Some students take their global health experiences a step further with additional time studying abroad.

Sebastien Trott took a leave of absence between his third and fourth years of the MD program to complete a master's in global health at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. Learn more about his experience.

Global Health Student Publications

A Glimpse into the Care of Diabetic Patients in Tokyo, Japan Through the Educational Hospitalization Program
Hirotaka Nakagawa, Nielufar Varjavand, MD, and Yukiko Onishi, MD, PhD
The Journal of Global Health, Vol. 8, No. 1: Spring 2018
Read about Hirotaka's global health experience

Global Health Presentations at Discovery Day

Global health students often share research they completed during their experiences at Discovery Day, the College of Medicine's annual day of research. Recent global health poster presentations have included:

2023

"Financial Barriers to Uptake of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Services in the Karatu District of Tanzania"
Devneet Kainth, MD ’26
Devneet and co-author Talmadge Gaither, MD ’26, also presented this research at the Alliance of Minority Physicians' Symposium for Pathways to Excellence in Medicine, receiving first place in the poster competition.

"Cross-Border Healthcare Utilization Among US-Mexico Border Residents: A Literature Review"
Alexa Smith, MD ’26

"Experience of an American Medical Student in a LMIC's Healthcare System"
Juliette van Heerden, MD ’26

"Exploring Respiratory Disease in Guatemala: My Experiences with the Safe Stove Project at Pop Wuj"
Olivia Vasey, MD ’26

2022

Factors Associated with the Initiation and Continuation of Breastfeeding Up to Four Months in Consuelo, Dominican Republic
Anjalee Bhuyan, MD ’26

Medical Ethnobotany in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala
Austin Iglesias, MD ’25
Jennifer Romeo, MD ’26
Ashley Ortiz, MS applied behavior analysis ’23
Read about these students' global health experience

Evaluating Language Competency After a Medical Spanish Immersion Program
Victoria Kaestner, MD ’25, and Julianne Meany, MD ’25

Effect of Education on Adherence to Recommended Prenatal Practices in the Indigenous Communities of Bocas Del Toro, Panama
Erin Kelly, MD ’25
Sabrina Johnson, MD ’25
Read about these students' global health experience

An Intersectional Analysis of Quantitative Patient-Centered Care Metrics and Qualitative Themes in the Healthcare Decision-Making Practices Among Fistula Surgery Candidates in Kenya
Alyson Kim, MD ’24

Excess Mortality Among Asians in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Harry Lin, MD ’25

Tramadol and Other Opioid Use Among Individuals With Substance Use Disorders in Lagos, Nigeria
Simone Udeh, MD ’25

State and Structure of Healthcare in Uzbekistan
Kamol Usmonov, MD ’24

2021

A Qualitative Analysis of Factors Affecting Women's Access to Genital Fistula Surgery in Western Kenya

Alyson Kim, MD ’24

Removing Language Barriers: Our Experiences in an Intensive Summer Medical Spanish Program
Jade Overton and Danielle Mensah

Analyzing Needs and Potential Impacts of a Feasible Sickle Cell Screening Program Within the Current Sierra Leonean Healthcare System
Jannah Wing

2020

A Barrier Analysis Evaluating the Obstacles and Perceptions Regarding Handwashing at Critical Times in Chongwe, Zambia
Katherine Boyd – read about Katherine's global health experience

Geographic Health Inequities in the Philippines: Rural vs. Urban Health
Courtney DiSangro

Presentation from summer project in Lesotho with WASH-Dornsife Scholar's Program
Sachin Gandhi – read about Sachin's global health experience

2019

Cultural Differences in Patient-Doctor Communication in Japan and the U.S.
Stephanie Jinno

Observed Etiologies of Tibia/Fibula Fractures at 37 Military Hospital in Accra, Ghana
Jacqueline Koomson

Effects of Low Doctor-Patient Ratios on Healthcare in India: My Experience in India
Seth Krivchenia – read about Seth's global health experience

Sustainability of WASH Infrastructure in Lesotho: Observations of Attitudes of the Basotho and Their Impact on Project Longevity
Christiana Obeng – read about Christiana's global health experience

Brain Drain: The Efflux of South African Healthcare Workers
Kevin Priddy – read about Kevin's global health experience

What Has Changed As a Result of Having Access to Water in Rural Communities in Gaza, Mozambique?
Paulina Ramirez – read about Paulina's global health experience

Exploring the Nutritional Public Health Problems Facing India in the 21st Century: My Experience
Ridgley Schultz – read about Ridgley's global health experience

We Don’t Have Time to Waste Eating Vegetables: Attitudes About Healthy Lifestyle Choices in Malawi
Sebastion Trott

Unicornuate Uterus in a patient with 45,X/46,XY Karyotype
G. Anya Venezia – read about Anya's global health experience

Conference Presentations

At the 15th Annual Drexel Student Conference on Global Challenges on May 19, 2022, the College of Medicine was well-represented. Global health student Thayjas Patil presented "Access to and Interaction With German Mental Healthcare Services by Local Refugee Populations in Urban Settings: a Multi-case Study From Berlin." Benjamin Haslund-Gourley, Microbiology & PhD student, and Swaksha Rachuri, MD/PhD student, presented "Microgreens Employed as a Tool to Educate Patients About Prevention of Diet-Related Disease." View a recording of the session.

At Drexel's 13th Annual Drexel Student Conference on Global Challenges on February 27, 2020, two global health students gave oral presentations. Christiana Obeng spoke about her time in Lesotho; her talk was titled “Sustainability of WASH Infrastructure in Lesotho: Observations of Attitudes of the Basotho and Their Impact on Project Longevity.” Katherine Boyd presented “A Barrier Analysis Evaluating the Obstacles and Perceptions Regarding Handwashing at Critical Times in Chongwe, Zambia” about her time in Zambia. View a recording of the conference.

After her time in Honduras in 2017, Shraddha Damaraju was eager to complete another global health experience. She stayed in Philadelphia this time, working on a project focused on naloxone distribution in 2019.

She presented about her experience at Drexel's 13th Annual Drexel Student Conference on Global Challenges on February 27, 2020. Her talk was "Community-Driven Solutions to Global Challenges: Naloxone Distribution in Philadelphia Communities." View a recording of the conference.

The 12th Annual Student Conference on Global Challenges was held on February 28, 2109. Second-year MD student Margot Debrabandere presented “An Explorative Study Evaluating the Impact of World Vison Swaziland’s HIV prevention Program.” First-year MD student Kathleen Healey spoke about “Defining Professionalism in Medicine: The Ethics of Refugee Health Care.” Aleesha Shaik, fourth-year MD student, presented “Unbundling Maternal and Infant Mortality in South Asia.” Jessica Pawly, second-year MD student, presented “Linking Community Empowerment Programs and Social Change: A Case Study of Tostan International in Senegal.”

At the 11th Annual Student Conference on Global Challenges, held on March 1, 2018, several global health students presented about their experiences. Roxanne Javadi attended to Geneva through the Duke Policy Program.  She presented "Mass Drug Administration for Neglected Tropical Diseases: Benefits Versus Risks for Global Health in the 21st Century." Alyssa Mezochow, who obtained a full scholarship through the CDC for research in Ghana, presented her poster on “Surveying HIV Healthcare in Western Ghana.” Nimretha Sandhu did a virtual internship with a startup company in India, where she developed their health content.  She presented her abstract, “International development of culturally specific reproductive health curriculum to develop lasting behavior change and improve health outcomes

Kelcie Lushefski and Kevin Priddy, fourth-year medical students, and Nielufar Varjavand, MD, associate professor of medicine and director of Global Health Education, authored an abstract, “The Brain Drain and Its Adverse Effects on Foreign Healthcare: A Firsthand Experience,” which was presented at the American Academy of Family Physicians Global Health Summit, held September 13-15, 2018, in Jacksonville, Florida. The focus of their work was transnational migration of physicians, specifically physician emigration from South Africa and Sri Lanka, and its implications for the home countries. Based on their poster abstract, the group was also invited to give an oral presentation in a session called “Ideas Worth Sharing,” for which six abstracts with unique ideas were chosen.

Laura Roper, a third-year medical student, presented "First Responder Training in Kiburara, Uganda" as part of the global health panel at the 9th Annual Student Conference on Global Challenges: Sustainability, held at Drexel on February 25, 2016. Roper visited Kiburara in 2010 for the first-responder pilot project. Uganda had no organized system for providing pre-hospital care to its citizens. The goal was to empower the community to take charge in emergency situations by training a trainer who could then pass on skills and knowledge. One local individual received the equivalent of U.S. first-responder training tailored to the needs of Kiburara. Upon completion of the training, that person was given two emergency duffel bags with materials needed for pre-hospital care, as well as instructor manuals. By that time, the trainee already had two more individuals signed up for first responder training.